Rugby: One of the Founders of Loop Road

by Gwynne Constantino
(Sunrise FL)

My husband's mother's father was one of the first to walk Loop Road. My husband Vince grew up out there as a boy. His Grandfather, Orville Rugby went to Washington asking them to put a bridge across 41 so they would not mess up the Everglades, but government did not listen.

My husband proposed to me on Loop Road and that day thousands of ibises flew in the opening. We have seen owls, otters, alligators and panthers off Loop Road.

Diane Rugby wrote a book called Florida Critters for children about the Everglades and dedicated it to her father Orville Rugby.

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